He wasn't being sarcastic - the Indians tanked their first six shots, but started a trend of intimidating defense on the other end of the floor. Forbes Road never got more than one shot at the basket during the entire first quarter, and had another half-dozen rushes turned away without an attempt.

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When the Indians' Jodi Appel drained her first 3-pointer almost two minutes in, the merciless attack was on.

"They beat us in every phase of the game," Cutchall continued. "My teams have a history of playing hard here, but they did everything right - right from the start."

Appel's three was followed by two quick layups and a second 3 as Southern Fulton (20-5) built a 10-0 lead in less than a minute.

"I think that first quarter is as good as you will see," Southern Fulton coach Mark Mellott said. "We couldn't have written a script better than that one."

The Cardinals were able to stop the bleeding a little before the half, switching from a 3-2 zone to a man press, but the Indians were already substituting freely and coasted into halftime leading, 35-12.

Senior forward Brooke Francis, who had a game-high 16 points for Southern Fulton, was just as relentless on defense, clearing the boards and firing the ball out quickly to the wings.

"We wanted to take Leslie Chilcote out of her game," Mellott said of the Cardinals guard, who ended with 11 points. "We were able to frustrate her a little - but we played our best defense of the year.They didn't get many second shots."

Mellott also praised the play of Appel and reserve guard Meghan White, who scored 13 points.